I'm learning Adobe Animate this week. Crash course...but I am surrounded by wonderful people so there is hope yet!  I started off an oil painting which I look forward to finishing traditionally but it was good enough to work as a baseline to paint digitally for this class.   I will try to get the original scan of the oil painting that I had started at another time and hopefully figure out how to embed a video into this thing.  Here's to hoping for a successful 6 hours put into this today.

This past week, I have been struggling with not only my right arm but my left arm. I have been the sight of sore eyes at PT with both my arms packed with ice.  Funny actually that here I am now with two bum arms. HOWEVER, I am extremely pleased with the progress my surgery arm (right).  The pain I get now are minor in comparison to what  it was like a year and half ago.  Now its pings and strain from apparent overuse.  This weekend, I have been trying to get catch up with my assignments for my MFA and although it has been a challenge. The work has been welcoming.  So, with this painting, I was working in very short increments and putting the paint brush down and taking a rest every few minutes.   As you can see from the photos above, The collage of 4 pictures, shows the transition from start to midway.  The last photo is the finished product. Or at least....till I get the approval of my thesis adviser should there need to be any changes done.  Loved working this piece.

PT is well under way and they are working on flexing my already stiff wrist in more ways than one. Slightly conflicted if the pulling and pushing feels good or if it hurts. Trying to change the mentality of no pain no gain.  Crunch time, school starts in 2 weeks and I have assignments stacking.  Another week and I fear I may go shit batty.  Disability payments suck and my inability to counter crappy pay without fully utlizing my art skills has been beyond frustrating. Okay, let's face it. I'm at wits end.  Today, I signed up for patreon.com and upwork.com in hopes of incorporating those avenues into my marketing plan.  Goodnight all.

I'm not very fond of having my picture taken most of the time so I try to paint a self portrait every few years. This one was created in the beginning of 2015.  I'm overall quite pleased with this one because I was able to capture my general personality in this painting which is hard to do.    

Two great influences....Remington and Charles Russell. I had the pleasure to see many Remingtons' while in Forth Worth.  They are to say the least absolutely amazing!  He's color palate and handling of a brush were sophisticated and delicate, skilled in technique in every which way.  His dramatic compositions, exaggerated gestures and dramatic lighting are definitely noteworthy characteristics of a  "Remington".  Charles Russell's work is quite breathtaking as well.  His use of color, exploration of his palate, and his storytelling capabilities are nothing short of great skill.  Remington and Russell's work are definitely key influences in my work and ever so inspiring. :)
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This little black lab pup was so charming.  My graphite drawings consist of hand tinting the background with recycled powder dust that I collect from sharpening my mechanical pencils. It allows me to have a nice mid-tone of a gray to base my lightest lights and darkest darks off of.  What is unique in my graphite process is that I do not add any additives to make the white areas of the drawing.  Everything is 100% graphite.

Portraits are challenging and one of the reasons why I enjoy them so much.  The woman's eyes is what lead me to paint this one.  I often listen to Lindsay Sterling's music while working.  There were many ideas for this painting.  I originally wanted to have a complicated war scene in the background  but after alot of pondering and alot of music later, I wanted to place her underneath the Northern Lights. I wanted her melody to dance with the background,   I think what really helped this piece was adding the stars in the sky. It really made the painting come full circle.  

Here is the 2nd bucking bronco.  My process has been the same throughout however, as much as I want to consider this one done. It is the last painting I did before my surgery. After much critique and debate there are a few things that I plan to alter and touch up a bit before I officially consider this one done.   When I am able to get back to this piece, I will followup with the corrections!
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The inspiration for this piece came from my trip to Pasenda, CA in Nov. 2015 with the MFA grads of Hartford Art.  I heard a wonderful presentation from the all time famous Illustrator Kenton Nelson.  He mentioned he painted the Colorado bridge, aka the Suicide bridge yearly. So I just had to see this bridge since I was staying nearby. Architecturally the bridge was grand.  But the weight of how many lives its claimed was very heavy. 

In my piece, I wanted to capture that weight, beauty, and reflection.  Suicide is ugly but the desire to seek comfort in others is beautiful even if its not in another human.  To be clear, it isn't a self portrait however a lot of me is reflective in this piece.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I had a troubled childhood and at an early age, I also contemplated suicide on more than one occasion.  Thankfully, that is long behind me but the scars always remain.  So, in "Contemplation," I wanted the woman to interact with something living... sometimes salvation can be found in the oddest of places and this woman for a moment has found it with this pigeon.  Is she saying goodbye or is it a moment of peace? I don't know perhaps the viewer can decide, does she jump or does she stay.

The above series of photos, shows my initial reference photo of the light post. Followed by my proposed sketch, drawing process on the board. A little hiccup of realization that I did not want daylight colors. The next photo is a digital color comp. followed by the stages of laying in the paint. 
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I loved creating this piece. This bronco is 1 of 2 pieces created in the same week. This is version 1 and also my reaction piece to my trip to Fort Worth Texas, March 2016.  Seriously, my place to be. So much inspiration. :)  Again, I apologize for not having pics of the initial steps before pic 1.  In pic 1, you can see that base color that I tinted the panel with prior to adding my first layer of oils.  I tinted my clear gesso with an acrylic raw sienna and then I started to lay in very thin layers of burnt sienna for the background being careful to not tint the center of underneath the horse, to give the effect of a dust cloud. Then, I started to block in the colors of the horse followed by painting in the rider. I personally love tobanio paint horses so this horse definitely reflects my preferred color tones of my real horses.  Ironically, I had a colt with similar markings and he was a hell-fire and ironically is the sweetest horse imaginable now. I wanted my subject matter to be a moment in time.  That second before he realizes that he will soon hit the ground and that second where he can appreciate what brought him up to this point.  

I loved painting little flaws into this piece as well....for instances- the riders left boot is well worn. :)

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